Sludge Watch ==> Fenwick Ont - paper sludge berm causes problems all the way to Vancouver

[Maureen Reilly]

From: Rina Larabie 
To: maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca 
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 11:45 PM
Subject: The berm is affecting us as far away as Vancouver


Hello Maureen,
We bought our house at 935 Church Street in Fenwick two and a half years ago. We enjoyed living in Fenwick and slowly got to know our neighbours as friendly and gracious people. As our at-home online business grew more quickly that we anticipated, we decided to finish our renovations, sell up and move to the west coast where we were closer to our friends and the design community in which we are a part. We priced our house according to the current market, packed our possessions into a truck and bid a fond farewell to a nice, quiet town, assured by the realtor that our house would sell quickly. We hoped it would since the proceeds were needed to help pay for our new townhouse. We didn't expect to make a big profit and we were assured by everyone who knew the house that it would find a buyer because of its many wonderful features. 

When we bought the house, we understood CP Rail ran trains through our side yard, infrequently, and usually at night. We accepted it. 
We knew Fenwick was a small town that would likely stay that way. We accepted that. 
We realized the sidewalks would never likely be extended beyond the tracks to include the strip of new houses south of the tracks where we were located. We accepted that.
We considered ourselves lucky to be the only street in Fenwick connected to Welland water and sewer eventhough we paid for the priviledge. The convenience was welcome and we traded it off for having to walk to town to pick up our mail. We accepted it. 
For two years, we drove to Pelham for everything: groceries, services and entertainment. We were half an hour away from the conveniences of St. Catharines or Niagara Falls. We paid the highest fuel prices in the province for the priviledge. We accepted it.
We experienced a 70% property tax increase which we appealed (and partially won) eventhough we still couldn't receive a clear cell phone signal and the hydro kept dropping out periodically. We accepted all of that because we had chosen to live in the 'country.'

What we don't accept is that now, some one decided to build a sludge berm at the end of our street and our house in Fenwick has become an albatross that is slowly bankrupting us because our area has become completely unmarketable. What was a nice residential neighbourhood is now something totaly repugnant to potential home buyers and they are staying away in droves. 
We've reduced the price, twice, changed realtors and done everything possible to make the house inviting. No one is coming to take a look because there is a sludge berm at the end of our street. We can't sell our house. Period. 

We anticiapted we would have a buyer long before now. We are paying two lots of property taxes and utilities, here in Vancouver and back in Fenwick. (You still need hydro and water to show a house even if you aren't living there.) The insurance rate on the Fenwick house is astronomical because we're now considered high risk because the house has sat empty for 3 months. Carrying two mortgages is not-so-slowly eating into the savings we had put away for our retirement. 

The stress from this added complication is beginning to affect my health; I can't sleep at night for worry about how long we can afford to keep this up if we don't get a buyer soon.  We aren't the only people trying to sell a house on Church Street and I can see how the construction of the berm has adversely affected the sale price of each listed property.The situation has become grim and it is unacceptable.

Who does the sludge berm benefit? Why was it allowed in a residential area? How, exactly, does it act as a sound baffle to railroad tracks that are beside our house, not at the south end of Church Street? 

The situation is sickening. It's too late to stop the berm and we have to accept it but I don't see that it's going to increase the value of the homes and businesses around it, many of whom rely on the quality of the soil for their farming and fruit orchards. What possible reason was there for allowing it in our backyards, in the first place? 

We moved across the country to start a new chapter and this unforeseen and unexpected complication has begun to cost us financially and emotionally. Honestly, I don't see any sign that the local 'authorities' will be able to do anything to affect positive change any time soon and we are going to lose the value of the major source of revenue we had to finance our home in Vancouver: the sale of our house in Fenwick. 

I just wanted to let you know how the berm is affecting yet another resident of Church Street.

Rina Larabie
Property Owner
Church Street
Fenwick Ontario
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